Posts Tagged ‘blissmo’

The final blissmobox. As I mentioned recently, I never got the last one I was supposed to receive, so I contacted customer service and they eventually agreed to send me one of the variations they have now. It was a toss up between Winter Beauty and Blissmo Beauty for me (the other option was a snack-themed one). I went with Winter Beauty hoping for more rich, hydrating, healing skincare. This was my last blissmo box and I think it was the February one, but I’m really out of touch with their cycle so it might have been from the Jan selections.

blissmobox is just under $25 per month with shipping (or as discounted as just under $120 for 6 months) and comes with eco-friendly products in themes like beauty, snacks, home, pets, and more. Each month you choose from two or three themes, or skip if none of them appeal to you. They do not offer a referral program.

Yes To Blueberries, Age Refresh Eye Firming Treatment – I’ve been fascinated by this brand and I’m always happy to get their products, but I don’t know if I really need eye treatment stuff so I think I’ll put this in my samples pile to share with people I trade with. It’s hard to believe that this packet is fully 1/5th of the regular size they sell! I bet it’d last quite a long time.

Nature’s Gate, Biotin Strengthening Conditioner – I already got this in last February’s Skin Essentials box and it was pretty good. However, I am confused as to why they only included the conditioner this time… would it have been so much trouble to have at least the shampoo again, if not the body wash as well? I mean, isn’t conditioner more effective combined with shampoo? It’s disappointing to get just the single sample here.

Joyful Bath Co, Oatsy Floatsie bath soap – I love this soap and have another sample sitting around somewhere. I’d bought the full size previously and used that all up. I love how well it suds and it smells wonderfully of lavender. When I use up some of the other soaps I have around now, I’m definitely going to look at getting another one of these. I believe you can even find them in Whole Foods now! I love perusing the bath section of stores.

Choice Teas, Organic Breathing Space – I could definitely use some caffeine-free tea. This seems like a great one to have when you’re feeling a little under the weather or need a pick-me-up on a cold day. Like with the hair care sample, I wish they hadn’t given just one little packet. Another flavor or a trio of this same flavor would have made a far greater punch here.

Calolea, Glycerine & Olive Oil Complexion Bar – Ok, I was not impressed at first, but once I read about how great this soap is I’m looking forward to using it. Plus, I sniffed it and it’s such a lovely clean, fresh, but not too strong scent. This is hypoallergenic and is supposed to be good for your complexion. I certainly need something like that! It’s gentle and they even recommend using it for men when they’re shaving. So useful! And with olive oil, I’m sure it won’t dry me out.

ellovi, lip butter – Pure and simple, just a few ingredients (six, to be exact). It’s a cute little lip butter with nothing extra in it to complicate things. I happen to love the oval shape for lip balms, which applies faster and really gets those corners well. I like to have lip balms available everywhere, since you never know where your lips will feel dry, so this will find a happy home in a pocket, on a counter, or maybe even in the car.

Mee Beauty, Bee Kissed honey & beeswax lip balm – Ooo, a lip balm infused with honey! That’s pretty new to me and a fun way to draw in the bee theme. Once again, I’ll find a place for this so I can keep my lips well taken care of. I like how there’s not a strong scent to this. I’m sure I could even convince Panda to use this for his winter lips.

This time there was no info card and I wish there was some “wow” factor. While I do like some of the new brands here, I feel like they could have been a bit more generous with the samples.

Blissmo was the first to get me into this subscription box thing and I haven’t looked back since. After a year with them, I was ready to move on and try other brands, but I will forever have them to thank for introducing me to this world in the first place. I’ve enjoyed getting boxes from them and I appreciated the varied themes. It was fun to choose between food, beauty, household, pets, and other focuses for a given box. As far as I’ve seen, they’re the only ones doing that on a monthly basis. They’ve shown me some incredible eco-friendly brands that I’m so glad to have tried. It’s been great and I might consider getting some of their special sale boxes in the future!

It’s coming up on one year since I signed up for an annual subscription for Blissmobox and while I’ve enjoyed some boxes, others have been “meh.” Throughout this time, I’ve had to deal with customer service multiple times due to some issues with their system. They’ve always been helpful and accommodating (albeit slow to reply). But this time, I am NOT happy. The past two boxes I got from them had a repeat product. And not just a small sample or one of many other great products, but one of the main products that make the box actually worth its value! So, I emailed their customer service expecting at least a partial refund of my money, an offer to send a replacement item, or something to try to make up for this transgression. What did I get? “Sorry, but that item was actually a bonus item.”

See something familiar in both boxes? Now imagine the right box without the lotion. Would you be happy?

Allow me to vent.

ARE YOU KIDDING ME?! If they had tried to send the box without that item, I bet you they’d get a ton of unhappy customers complaining! After all, it made up for half the value of the box. How puny and pathetic would the box be otherwise?? It’s sad. So I suggested a compromise: they could give me a prepaid shipping label and I’d send the box back to them, all items intact. I would count the month as “skipped” and we’d move on. What was their reply? We don’t provide prepaid shipping labels.

I’m sorry, what?!!

Maybe my standards of service are too high, but seriously, you can’t give me a shipping label??? That is just unheard of. I mean I understand if you’re just an individual seller like those on eBay, but here you are an established business with plenty of customers and YOU WON’T SEND ME A FREAKIN’ LABEL? It’s not like I just didn’t like the items in the box. I feel cheated that I paid twice for getting THE SAME EXACT PRODUCT when I got this service to get introduced to new ones. I would have been ok if it was the same brand but a different product from their line. But I can handle repurchasing products just fine without you, thank you very much.

They’re not even trying to make it right. All they’re saying is sorry, but we’re not going to help you. That’s what I’m getting from their correspondence anyway. So I guess it’s a good thing my year is almost up, because I am ready to part ways with Blissmo. I never complained before when their boxes weren’t very good and the one time I do have a problem with a box, they won’t do a thing. This kind of “service” isn’t even service. -___- At least this helps me decide my next move, since I wasn’t sure if I should renew my membership. I will take my business elsewhere.

a~ Sometimes all this stuff happens that I want to talk about but then it gets to be too much so I hold it off. So here’s a little bit of catching up!

b~ I finally tried Susiecakes back when Panda was here in LA and I really enjoyed the way they swirl their frosting! Georgetown Cupcake has their “signature swirl” and so does Susiecakes. From what I can tell, the frosting actually goes into the center of the cupcake too, for an ultimate “oozing” experience. Quite good! I wish the cupcakes were a bit bigger though, but I guess it’s better for me that they’re not.

c~ For awhile, Missy (my cat) wouldn’t go outside and spent the day napping on my bed or otherwise lazing around. To me, this was normal cat behavior, but to my mom, it was a signal of distress. She kept asking me if something was wrong with Missy and eventually it seemed like there might be. I started to become convinced that she was depressed because she doesn’t have another cat to play with. We do have another cat, Molly, but she’s old and grumpy and abuses poor Missy. I even seriously contemplated getting another cat for Missy to befriend! But hey, she seems to have recovered and enjoys a good run outside again. Third cat idea? Tabled.

d~ I got my first order for a mystery box and sent it out to a girl in Vegas. I had fun putting it together and trying to guess what she might like, but it’s hard to please people! I recently got her feedback saying she didn’t quite feel like it was the value she paid for, which made me a bit sad, but I really did try my best and I had outlined all the items she could expect. So now instead of mystery boxes I’m thinking of transitioning to grab bags so it’s even more clear what they’ll get.

Missy immediately thought: “Bed!”

e~ I’ve read up on some photo boxes used to take product photos and I found my own sort of solution. I “hacked” a photo box using a cardboard box from Costco and a solid colored piece of plastic. I’ve experimented with other things too, like tissue paper, but Missy seemed to think it was for her to play in! Check out one of the product photos I did for the Tatcha samples I got (review to come). I think it’s pretty good, though I wish the background didn’t have the blue since it doesn’t always look good. Still, not bad for a cheap version!

f~ I have been sooo looking forward to my Graze boxes and even got a sneak peek when I went to check on the status. They ask you to rate the items in the box after they send it, so you can actually know what’s coming ahead of time if you’re curious. So far I’ve received two boxes and there have been some items I really enjoyed (and wished they had larger portions of) and some that I probably won’t want for awhile. Their rating system makes it really easy to get the ones you like and ensure you don’t get the ones you disliked. Reviews to come.

g~ So as you can tell from my Aveeno review, my Influnster VoxBox arrived! I really hope I continue to get more VoxBoxes since this has been fun and I enjoy using my new night cream. We were told we get in on the summer VoxBox automatically if we were one of the first 100 to finish the Aveeno brand challenge, which I’m pretty sure I did. We’ll see though!

h~ I got suckered in to signing up for Bulu box because of a free box offer, but I think I’m going to cancel before they charge me. After looking around at previous boxes, it appears that they’re too health-focused for my taste. I’ll still try that first box and see though – maybe I’ll be pleasantly surprised!

i~ I saw this super cute desk organizer at Target and I totally wanted it! I shouldn’t be splurging now though, so I will patiently wait for it to go on clearance before snagging one if I can. I find that when I have cool storage units like this, I’m much more likely to stay organized(ish). When I settle into my own home, I’m totally going to get things like this so I can stay motivated to keep things neater. I mean, when something’s fun, you tend to do it more! And how fun is a pretty little box like this? It’s just asking for me to put my pens and paperclips and push pins and rubber bands in there!

j~ In some more up-to-date news, I started day 1 of my 2-week testing for Pink Panel and just as I predicted, we got Julep products! Pretty psyched about that since I’ve been curious about their brand ever since I found out about their Julep Maven subscription service. I get to test out their glycolic hand scrub, oxygen nail treatment, and cuticle serum. The lotion and nail polish removers came to supplement the whole hand care experience so the entire testing period, I’m using all Julep products for my hands. I don’t know what to expect from the oxygen treatment and cuticle serum, but I already love how the scrub feels, smells, and works. It’s something I would definitely buy!

I held it upside down so you can see how solid it is.

k~ My Zoya nail polishes arrived today, though one got backordered and is on its way. One of the bottles was all dried out though! Whaaat? I was sorely disappointed and contact their customer service, so I expect a satisfactory resolution soon. This would involve more than just replacing the one I got, but we’ll see if they’re the “go above and beyond” types. [Update: they got back to me and they’re rushing a replacement. Meh. Maybe I expect too much of customer service.]

l~ On a similar note, the most recent Blissmo box contained a repeat item that was the bulk of the value of the box. Also not so happy about that, so I emailed their customer service. I do not enjoy paying twice for the same product when I’m paying to learn about new ones. As I mentioned to them, the least I would expect is another product from that company’s line, but a completely identical product is no bueno for a subscription box.

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laelene

My philosophy is simple: things change. Therefore, we are all on a lifelong journey of discovery. We should be flexible, questioning, learning, adapting, and growing. Always.

little fat notebook pays homage to Mead's "fat lil' notebooks" that I use to write down any thoughts that strike me throughout the day. I keep one by my side at all times. After all, inspiration waits for no one.